Anna Friel
Anna Friel
Anna Louise Frielis an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, she has been acting since the age of 13, appearing in a number of British television programmes. She played Beth Jordache in the Channel 4 soap Brookside, and portrayed the first lesbian kiss in a British soap opera in January 1994. She made her West End theatre début in London in 2001 and has subsequently appeared in several productions, including in an adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's and...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionTV Actress
Date of Birth12 July 1976
CityRochdale, England
It's so important to raise awareness of this problem that continues to affect 1 in 4 women at some point in their lifetime, regardless of career, wealth or background.
These women need to feel that we're all aware of what they may be going through, to give them the confidence to speak out.
You can see when an actor gets bored: Their eyes go dead. I promised myself I'd never let that happen. If it does, I'll go and live on a desert island for a year.
Onstage, there's no hiding; you either can or can't act. There's no second take.
I've been onstage once for one performance with four days' rehearsal.
I've always chosen incredibly different roles and things that are quite offbeat. That way you're not limited.
I have the most lovely, healthy bouncing baby, she was all very compact and the right size.
People became more interested in my love life than in me, and that has a certain effect. You start to feel very empty and worth nothing, you start to become a piece in a board game you never wanted to play.
I've been on sets where the turnaround is so fast and the budget so small that the actors have been asked to speed things up and save money by changing in the public toilets. There's no room for vanity at times like that. It's the best way: get on with it!
When I'm working, it's those actors (you know who you are) who sit around moaning that their trailer isn't big enough, or how bad their facilities are. I can't be doing with any of that, I just like to get on with it.
Any scene that involves stripping off is hell. You just know it's going to take a day or more to get it right. It never gets any better and it's always uncomfortable, and all you can do is grin and bare it. I just pray it's never gratuitous and that it doesn't look so fake that all you hear in the audience is, 'Well, that's not really her, is it?'
But Americans find me bizarre and always ask me why I eat so many carbs. I tell them I don't get full otherwise.
There were reports of me using fat-sucking machines and all sorts of silliness. All I did was walk a lot and breast-feed. I've never been on a strict diet. I just don't overeat, and I don't eat if I'm not hungry.
I was just disciplined. I knew I had to get back into shape after six weeks for the film Goal II, but I cheated in the end - I wore a corset. I loved my pregnancy, I blossomed. I felt goddess-like and very secure. I found it comforting to have a little thing growing inside me, and very calming.